Thursday, May 12, 2016

A few days ago, I sat on the verandah of the Gene Campaign field station
in Orakhan in the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand, watching the forests of
Mukteshwar burn. It was heart-breaking to see the fire grow and spread and the
flames leaping into the sky. On the mountain crest, the flames were shooting
up, forming a dreadful corona. We watched helplessly but could not detect any
activity to control the fire. Next day, friends who were supposed to come
visiting called to say they were dog tired since all of them were up all night,
trying to put out the fires that were creeping closer to their homes. The whole
village was up, beating back the flames. In the mountains there is a tradition
that all village people will rush to help put out forest fires.

The next day, driving down to Kathgodam to get the train, my heart sank
as I realised the extent to which the forests were burning. From Mukteshwar to
Kathgodam, there were patches of forest going up in smoke, all along the entire
route. Somebody described them as “garlands of fire”, draping the hillside.
Deadly garlands, yes. At Kathgodam station, the fires had reached almost the
base of the low hills. I feared for the safety of the trains and the people.

Later, from newspapers I learnt that the fires had spread over both the
Kumaon and Garhwal regions. Our district Nainital in Kumaon, as well as Tehri
and Pauri in Garhwal, were apparently the worst affected. The total number of
forest fires had gone up to nearly 1,100 before the interventions to control
the fire began a few days ago. Once the governor stepped in to have more
personnel deployed and New Delhi sent the Air Force (who else but the fauj at a
time of crisis!), things began to get under control but not before a lot of
damage had been done.

Losing chunks of the Mukteshwar forest has been a big blow. Avid
foresters of yesteryears tell us that the Mukteshwar forest is one of the best
patches of forest in the western Himalayas. It still is one of the best
conserved, full of oak and rhododendron with not so much chir pine.The presence
of chir pine in a predominantly oak forest is an indication of degradation.
When the broad leafed trees are felled, the pine moves in. Pine trees shed
their needle-like leaves copiously from the start of summer and the ground is
covered with a carpet of long, resin-rich, acidic pine needles. These are the
main culprits of forest fires. Because of their resin, pine needles catch fire
quickly. A beedi or match tossed carelessly on the roadside can start a fire
claiming entire hill sides. The damage to the gorgeous Mukteshwar forest will
be assessed in the coming days but the visuals predict bad news.

After the fires have been put out and the damage assessed, questions
must be asked about the capability and preparedness of the forest department.
Sure, forest fires happen in summer and some fires are an annual feature but
why did it take so long — according to some accounts, weeks and months — before
action was taken to control the fires? Why was help not sought earlier, knowing
the fragile situation of a very dry, inflammable forest floor? It has not
rained since September 2015 and the Himalayan vegetation, especially in pine
areas, is like tinder. All the more reason that the forest department and
administration should have been on high alert, anticipating more fires than
usual.

The distressing fact is that people incharge down the line have
displayed callous neglect and let the jungle burn. But there is worse: Stories
abound in the villages about complicity and some of these stories have been
mentioned in the media. One story is that the people in the forest department
set the fires deliberately because they get extra money to put out forest
fires.

The other is that there is connivance between people in the forest
department and the timber mafia so that forests are set on fire and,
ultimately, when all is over, supposedly burnt trees in the affected blocks are
auctioned off.

At this time, far more than the “burnt” trees find their way to the
timber traders. The third story is about the land mafia being in cahoots with
the administration to grab land for commercial purposes. When the forest is
burnt down, people suggest the status of the land be changed, it’s not a forest
anymore and it can be sold to those who want to build hotels and resorts.
Although this time, I think people may have miscalculated the fury of the fire
in the brittle dry condition of the forest and the fire ran away with all their
evil plans and calculations.

And then there’s a fourth story: That those who deal
in pine resin and keep resin stocks in forest depots start fires to claim
compensation far in excess of what they had collected and stocked. Who knows
what the truth is. Given the crazy levels of corruption in this country, any
one or all of these stories could be true.

An open and transparent inquiry should be held on the devastating fires
that have destroyed some 3,000 hectares of Uttarakhand’s forests, killing
people, animals, birds, insects and other life forms. The biodiversity of the
area has been wrecked. The leopard, deer and other wild animals have lost their
homes and habitats. The birds have lost their nests with their eggs and baby
chicks. The butterflies and moths have been charred and heaven knows how long
all this will take to come back, if at all. The perpetrators must be punished
severely. Not the village lads but the mafias and those who benefit from such
disasters, for these are crimes against future generations.

The writer, chairperson of Gene Campaign, is a scientist and development
activist. She can be reached at mail@genecampaign.org

About Me

Dr. Suman Sahai, who has had a distinguished scientific career in the field of genetics, is a recipient of the Padma Shri,the Borlaug Award, Outstanding Woman Achiever awards, the BirbalSahni Gold Medal and the Order of the Golden Ark .
Dr. Sahai is founder Chairperson of the Gene Campaign which is a leading research and advocacy organization, working on issues relating to food, nutrition and livelihoods. She has published extensively on science and policy issues and is a member of several national policy forums on scientific research and education, biodiversity and environment, biotechnology and bioethics as well as intellectual property rights.
Dr Sahai chaired India’s Planning Commission Task Force on ‘Agro biodiversity and Genetically Engineered Organisms’, for the XIth Plan. She was a member of the Steering Committee of the National Biodiversity Board , the Expert Committee on Biotechnology Policy and the Bioethics Committee of the Indian Council of Medical Research.She has served on the Research Advisory Committees of national scientific institutions.
Dr Sahai can be reached at www.genecampaign.org and mail@genecampaign.org